The Sphinx's Charge
by snowleopard314
Summary: Harry went to Egypt after second year with Ron's family. This will lead him on a new path to both family and love. Of course everything is going to change for him once a sphinx decides to adopt him as her cub. But that is only the start of the changes that this tip will bring to the life of Harry James Potter.
1. Chapter 1: The Pyramid

**A/N: Hello, this has been sitting on my laptop for a while and I figured, what the hell, might as well post it. So here I am, writing this. This will be a slower plot with romance. I'm planning on the two main pairings being Bill and Fleur along with Harry and Blaise. So it will be slashish. If you don't like that, then don't read. This will probably go through all of the years and perhaps a bit more. About a fourth of it is done, I think. So read, review, fav, and follow please. And I do like reviews that have opinions and constructive criticism.**

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Chapter 1: The Pyramid

The pyramid was amazing. Never in a million years had Harry ever thought that he would be given the chance to travel to Egypt, but the Weasely's had actually invited him along because he had saved Ginny from the Chamber of Secrets just a few months ago. Harry wouldn't have asked to go, he didn't even know about what was going on. But Ron had insisted that he come, and so he did. It was the first time that he had been away from the Dursely's for the summer, and he was going to make the most of it without thinking about them.

They had been touring the pyramids for the past three days, and Harry had never had so much fun in his life, nor had he learned so much in such a short amount of time. Already he had sent off Hedwig to Professor McGonagall and had changed his electives to Runes and Arithmacy instead of Divination. But Harry did keep Care of Magical Creatures.

What had prompted this change was mostly because of the meeting of Ron's two eldest brothers Bill and Charlie. They had shown him why they were classes that he should be taking instead of just taking the easy way out. As it was he had been sucking up all the rune and dragon knowledge that they had been telling him since they had met. Not that they minded; their younger siblings hadn't shown much interest in their jobs, and their mother honestly didn't know the half of what they actually did on a daily basis.

It was clear to the older two Weasely's that Harry was thirsty for any knowledge or attention, and so they had taken the time to speak with him about different subjects and found that he was a good student. Though they both also seemed to notice how small he was. They both had noticed the lack of concern with the others making them both believe that the small shy boy was acting as he always was. It concerned them both, but they knew that there was probably nothing that they could do about it. So they had simply given him knowledge and attention when they could. The slight stiffening whenever someone made a move too close to him was also something that they both ignored seeing and tried to remedy at the same time.

The two had accepted him as a part of the family, as a little brother that they would be able to help along. One that just happened to not be a redhead, but that didn't matter to them. They just wanted that los look that he had around him to go away.

On a brighter note, both brothers also had noticed that the boy was studiously trying to ignore the staring of their youngest sibling and only sister. Bill and Charlie had found themselves with the twins laughing about it as they watched him inch away from the girl who was enamored with him. Laughing at it for the time being the four had started off amused, but soon they were going to take pity on the boy. They all understood her fascination and adoration as hero worship; something the small black haired boy didn't want.

In a silent agreement they had separated the two as Bill steered Harry to the wall and uncovered the magic laid runes to show him just what it was that they had to work with, throwing in a funny story about a trap here and there just because. Also he showed how the runes were layered to change the meanings and amplify certain aspects.

It worked only because Ginny had no interest in ruins at all. This was also the second pyramid that they had visited and because they were sure that they had dealt with all of the curses, the families of the curse breakers were allowed to explore to their heart's content. With the traps dismantled and the valuables handed over to the bank, and the lesser valuables handed to the muggle museums, the sight was declared open. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity that none of the public would be given.

Though, in this one Bill did have his eye out. They had scoured the place and had gotten all of the traps that they could find, however, there had been talk about some sort of room that they hadn't found in the various run-throughs that they did. It was spoken of briefly in the entrance were there had been a slight overview of the important rooms, but it had never been found.

A few of his colleagues thought that they had perhaps forgotten to build it, or that the room had been a decoy to waste the time of those searching. Either way none had found the barest hint of the room. With all of that said, they found it very unlikely that anyone would be able to find something that they had missed. They had thought that an impossibility. But he was still on edge seeing as it was his family inside of this place and not random curse breakers that knew their way around a trap or ward.

"What are these?" Harry asked after the curse breaker had finished a story as he pointed to some lines of a swiggly looking witting that was framing some hieroglyphs on the far wall of the inner chamber where most of the loot had been stored before they had taken it out to be analyzed by the goblins and the senior members of the crew.

"A mystery so far," Bill answered with a wistful smile. It was clear that he took a lot of pride in his job. "They pop up at random places in a few digs, but no one has been able to find out what they are so far. At first they were thought to be some form of decoration, but it is seen in so many different places that the style at least should be different, but it is not. That is one of the few things that make this job so much fun; there are still many things to discover and to catalogue."

Bill would have gone on, but he was being called by his father. If he had waited just a few more minutes he would have been amazed to find out what happened next. Feeling a sense of familiarity, Harry leaned forward and traced the pattern with his finger before reading it and letting out a hiss of parseltongue while reading.

" _Here lies a secret for only those whom speak the noble tongue. Lord of serpents, and true speaker you be, welcome to the lost chamber._ " Harry read. Harry thought nothing of it. He had been told that everything was cleared and that anywhere that might have a problem would be marked. He didn't think that reading aloud would do anything. He hadn't even realized that he had been reading the language of the snakes that had been in written form.

Ron had heard the start of the hiss and had whipped around enough to watch as a door seemed to come from the wall and Harry was sucked through the opening and disappeared in a blinding flash. "Harry!" He called out loudly to his friend as he ran towards where his friend had gone.

Bill had just enough warning to yell at Ron and stop him with an arm wrapped around his waist before he could get into the new chamber, lifting the smaller Weasely off the ground while stopping him. "Ron, no! You can't go in there, we haven't cleared it, and no one was supposed to find anything new! Charlie, get John! I need the crew in here ASAP! And I know you will worry, but I need you guys out!" He said firmly to his family as he acted quickly.

"But Harry, he is in there! He got sucked in right after he finished talking!" Ron yelled as he struggled against his brother's arms uselessly.

Bill started for a moment as he looked from the new doorway with fascination and worry to his youngest brother as his eyes scrunched up slightly. "What did he say?"

"I don't know!"

"Ron, this is important, I need to know what he said to have gotten into that room!" Bill pressed as he turned Ron so that he could look into his brother's eyes. Every little word would have to be analyzed as though it held the key to the room. It would tell them what they needed to save the small raven haired boy.

"I don't know! It was in parseltongue! I don't know what he said!" Ron said with worry in his eyes. Ginny gasped from where she was standing by their parents as everything stilled for a moment. Everyone was looking to where the place where the youngest boy of their group had disappeared into. Harry was going to be turning thirteen in a week, and this was not what the twelve year old needed at the moment.

"Harry is a parseltongue?" Bill asked and saw Ron nod his head along with the twins, Percy, and Ginny. They had all seen the commotion that it had caused when the school had found out about it at the dueling club that the idiot of a defense professor had started. There had been sheer panic when word got out that the Savior of the wizarding world could talk to snakes.

"Then the writing must have been in a script form of the snake language. And since the door is still open we can get to him, but you need to wait for my team to do it, alright? We have the knowledge to get to him, but you do not. Let us handle it." Bill asked his family as he took charge of them. When they nodded he turned to Charlie who had just come back with the man he had sent for and the other brother got the hint and started to herd the large redheaded family towards the door.

Bill was now in full work mode as the rest of his team that hadn't been too far away came in and they started to examine the new room to figure out how to save the boy from one of their own mistakes. It was their job to make sure that nothing that was there could hurt the visitors, and they had deemed the pyramid safe. So they would have to fix it had hope that the boy would be perfectly alright until they could get to him.

As they attacked the hieroglyphs and runes in the place with a fever, the entire team couldn't help but feel a sense of guilt at the thought that they had missed something that had put someone at risk. It was only made worse when they were told that it was just a child on top of that.

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 **A/N: There you go. Now I would like it if you would tell me what you think of it. Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2: Reality Marble

**A/N: So I forgot to put in the dusclaimer last time, so here it is, I own absolutely positively nothing! Just me otherworldly imagination.**

 **Moving on I would like to thank everyone who Reviewed and Faved and Followed. It really did mean the world to me and I am lad that so far people are liking the idea. Here is my next chapter that will get the ball rolling some more. I was probably a bit more wordy than I had to be at places, but, eh, whatever. I hope that you all like this chapter.**

 **One more thing, there are two unanswered riddles in this chapter. I challenge you readers to answer them in the reviews so that I can give you fake invisible pixel cookies! Yeah, other than that I would love some feedback.**

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Chapter 2: Reality Marble

Harry groaned as he woke up, not really knowing where he was. He had remembered reading the lines in the pyramid and then a flash of light and falling. It was the falling that had scared him and he could already feel the sore spots on his back from where he had landed. Though, admittedly it was nowhere near as bad as he had been after a run in with Dudley and his gang. Those guys were still young and didn't know how to hit, so most of the time Harry was able to get out without much injury.

Eyes opening, the boy looked around him and what he saw took his breath away. He was in a room of sorts, a hall perhaps, surrounded by the same sand colored bricks that he had become used to seeing in the pyramids. The walls were covered in so many different kinds of writing that Harry was in awe of it. There were the squiggles and hieroglyphs, but also a few others that Harry had never seen before. One of which looked suspiciously like Latin. As Harry looked he could also see gems imbedded into the wall in a pattern that reminded Harry of the runic ward that Bill had called up before he was called away.

But what held Harry's attention was not the writing on the wall, no; it was the creature that sat regally at the end of the hall that had the door. It had the body of a lion but the face was decidedly human. It was a she; there was some grace in the face structure and posture that yelled out female, not to mention the lack of a mane but hair that seemed to almost make one. It was almost like Hermione's hair, only it was straight and golden instead of fizzy. The back half also seemed slender in comparison to the bulk of the front of the creature. Harry knew what she was too; he had heard about them and seen enough statues and carvings in the pyramids of them to be sure. She was a sphinx. A half man, half lion hybrid.

"Good evening young one." She greeted in a deep and rumbling voice, one that sounded like a mix between the rumbling of the earth and melted honey.

Swallowing his nerves, the young boy walked forward and asked "Hi, um…you wouldn't happen to know how I got here, would you?" He knew it was dangerous to ask the creature a question, but at the same time, he knew that he should not have been there at all. And as he already knew that she could speak, his mind didn't see the harm in asking. Either she would help him, or she would kill him. Personally, he was hoping that she would be willing to help him. It wasn't so long ago that he had found himself in a situation similar to this and ended up fight a basilisk. Harry had hopes that it would be different this time around.

The sphinx eyed him for a moment before she sighed and said "It would appear that you accidently stumbled on this place. This is a place only a speaker of the noble tongue could find with ease. Pass the tests, and you will be given a gift. Fail them, and you will never leave here alive. One as young as you should not have been taken here, so for my test I shall be slightly more lenient than I would have been should you have been an adult."

Not knowing how to respond, Harry numbly nodded at the creature before him. His fear and anxiety skyrocketing as he did so. Just looking that this creature the little boy knew that she could probably kill him with one swipe of her claws.

"Answer this riddle, and you are free to pass." She said. And then in a deeper voice she asked:

"What can run but never walks,

Has a mouth but never talks,

Has a head but never weeps,

Has a bed but never sleeps?"

Harry looked at the sphinx when she spoke and thought of the riddle that she had asked him. He knew that she would eat him if he did not answer the question correctly, but he could have sworn that he had heard this one before. Harry took the time to repeat the riddle to himself and thought about before he looked up at her.

"A river," he answered with certainty.

"Very good little one, you have passed my test. You may enter the next chamber." She spoke with a proud glint in her eye. Of course, though Harry was almost thirteen, the sphinx thought that he was nine at the most. He was just that small.

Harry hesitated for a moment at the door before he looked at the sphinx once again. He didn't want to be alone. Ron had been with him on the way down to the chamber of secrets, and Harry had known that Ginny would be there waiting for him in the center chamber. Here there was no guarantee that he would be alone. It was a terrifying thought for the young boy.

"What is your name?" Harry asked instead of the question that he really wanted to ask.

"It has been a long time since I have used a name little one. But the man who put me in here had called me Xevera. I was but a cub when I was placed in here."She answered softly. Her voice was oozing comfort to him for some unknown reason.

"How long have you been in here?" Harry asked as he looked up at her with his large green eyes that begged her to help him and keep him safe. She wanted to curl around the boy and keep him with her. Xevera had never felt this way, but then again, she had never been a mother before. She had been in this place for most of her life.

"Years beyond counting. But time is not the same here as they are out there. The doorway you summoned moved you into a different reality. I do not know how different the time is, but I do know that when you leave it will either be only hours since you left, or it will be days." She said flatly, not wanting to betray any emotion that those words represented. She had longed to leave this place, but knew that she probably never would.

"Would you come with me? I don't mean help me or anything, but I just don't want to be alone." Harry asked in an impossibly small voice. His insecurities were coming out so that he could ask this of the creature in front of him.

Xevera felt her tail flick as she heard him and almost right away she knew that her heart had claimed him as her cub. He was hers, and she was going to make sure that he would make it out of there, even if that meant she would be no more. "Of course little one, I will come with you. But you have to pass the upcoming tests on your own. You may ask questions, but I will not physically help you." She answered the boy with a surprisingly gentile toothy smile. It almost looked feral if not for the sweet edge to it and the softening of the eyes.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief as he started forward again with the sphinx leisurely walking next to him, her head almost at his shoulder.

"Up for anther riddle little one?" She asked as they walked, a slight purring sound coming from her chest.

"Sure," Harry said with a smile as they entered a narrow hallway that would lead to the next chamber that he would have to face in order to leave. Or, at least that was what Harry thought he had to do in order to leave.

"A box without hinges, key, or lid,

Yet inside golden treasure is hid."

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Bill and the team had cracked down almost immediately and started to scour the new room without touching anything. It was a small room with an alter in the center that held a large perfectly circular stone that looked to be an emerald, though it was one of the largest emeralds that Bill had ever seen. They all knew that it was a Reality Marble. It was a space set aside that held true the laws of the world, but time and space were contorted through it. It was like its own little world.

They had been looking into this room for over an hour, and they all had been frustrated with how much they couldn't read. Some had even said that they hoped the boy would come back willing to help translate all that was in there. Bill was sure that if he came out alive, he would have no problem doing that, but they needed to get him back alive and well first.

"Parseltongue, no wonder we couldn't crack it. The lines must have been some kind of written version of it. I never thought that was possible." John muttered as he looked at the unreadable language with interest. He had been coming across the lines of the strange language at almost every turn and never before had been able to discern what it was. Part of him had been convinced that it was some sort of early version of Sanskrit.

"Yes and now Harry got himself sucked into a Reality Marble. We have no idea what could be in there." Bill replied as he looked on as well. His worry was very much more pronounced than that of the others seeing as he had just spent time with the kid over the past few days.

"Hey, I'm sure the kid will be alright. And look here, I think that we can send one other person inside of the marble. All that we have to do is touch the reality marble. But only two people can get in at a time. I'm thinking that you should go in seeing as the kid knows you and won't panic." The man reasoned as he pointed to the hieroglyphs that were under the parselscript.

Bill nodded before he grabbed extra supplies and looked at the marble. They all knew that this was dangerous, so Bill had not only his wand, but also Harry's. Mrs. Weasely had made sure that the kids did not have them, but they were on her person just in case. So now he had to give Harry his wand and hope that they wouldn't need it. In his pack were also the supplies that he felt he needed when entering a new place that had never been broken into before. He even had a length of rope on him, though it was shrunk and in the bottom of the bag.

What helped his nerves was the fact that he had known Harry had already been through a couple of interesting things in school, so he knew that the boy was at least a little resilient. Even if they hadn't known any of the details, Bill knew that Harry had saved his sister from the Chamber of Secrets, and that he had done so alone for that most part. Even if he had to do tests, from the writing on the wall the marble as not warded or trapped the same way as the rest of the pyramid had been. That meant that it should be easier to get through for the kid.

Touching the emerald, Bill felt as if he had just activated a portkey as he was thrown into the new reality and fell flat on his back. But he was up and on his feet seconds later as he looked around ready to take out any threat that came near him. To his relief there was nothing, but to his disappointment he didn't see Harry either.

Carefully, Bill did a scan before he walked the length of the hall before he walked forward and through the narrow hall and into the next chamber. What h saw made him pale slightly. There were fresh scorch marks on the walls, but he didn't smell anything that told him someone had been burnt in this place. The underlying heat of the room and the smoldering ashes on the sand told him that it hadn't been long since Harry had been in the room. So he hoped that Harry was alright before he started forward again.

It was a twisting and winding hall that he found himself when he spotted Harry and his horror a sphinx walking next to him and speaking to him as though she had known him for years. Sphinxes were well respected by everyone in the magical world. They were intelligent and could see reason. But they were also feared for the ease in which they could kill and the brutality that they could exhibit as well. Seeing the two converse was very worrying to the redhead.

"Harry!" Bill called out, and was rewarded with a squeak as the boy jumped and whirled around to see who had spoken his name, his green eyes wide with fight and relief.

"Bill!" He sighed when he saw the redheaded curse breaker. Harry was about to walk up to him when Xevera stepped between the two and glared up at the man she had not met before. He had yet to pass her inspection. Also, the little one with the big green eyes had been claimed by her heart. This man was going nowhere close until he passed the inspection.

"It's alright Xevera, this is Bill, he was with me when I accidently fell into here." Harry said when he heard the sphinx growl at the man that Harry knew would help him out of this place. Xevera had been very helpful, but Bill knew magic, and so Harry was sure that with him there things would get easier for him.

"You trust him little one, but I have not tested him. He may go no further until he answers my riddle." She said in her deep voice. Harry was surprised to note that it was colder than the voice that she had been using with him while was with her.

With a reluctant nod, Harry looked towards Bill who was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that Harry was conversing with a sphinx and that she was not eating him outright. While they had not been band, sphinxes' were very dangerous magical creatures, and Bill had never met one that seemed as kind as this one was being to Harry. They were the guardians of the pyramids for a reason. And most of the time they did their jobs without question. That meant that Harry had gotten a riddle correct and she had not only allowed him to pass, but had for some reason gone with him as well.

"Alright, what is your riddle?" Bill asked as he focused his attention on the magical creature.

"I know a thousand faces, and count the tailed heads,

Feasting brightly upon the eyes, of many who have died,

Wielding well a mighty power, who hath but humble stature,

Masses fall upon their knees, to scarce behold my only side."

Her voice was deep and cutting as she kept herself in between the man and the boy she had claimed in her heart as her own. Even if he trusted this man, she would not. Not until he proved that he cared about her charge. Then he would be welcome.

Bill's eyes widened as he thought over the riddle that the sphinx had given him. It was not one that he had heard before. In fact, it was not one that he was familiar with at all. But he paused and thought it through. It had faces and tails, power without being something big. It was a thing, that he was sure about. The minutes stretched as he thought about the riddle until finally it clicked.

"A coin" he answered in absolute certainty. His bright blue eyes glinting as he did so. They might not have twinkled like Dumbledore's did, but they were rather shiny and a nice shade of blue that was darker than his mother's or father's.

Xevera looked him up and down, examining him before she conceded. "Yes, that was the answer. You may advance with us." She then turned to Harry was a smile and butted her head against his chest to get him to continue down the winding hall. They still had a path they had to follow. She was going to see her new cub out of this place yet.

"Oh, Harry, here is your wand. I know you're not allowed, but this is a Reality Marble, you can use magic in here and no one will ever know." Bill said as he passed Harry his wand.

Harry looked up at the man with a smile of joy and a blush of slight embarrassment. He was breathing easier than he had been before; after all, Xevera had been berating him on not having his wand during the first test that he had passed. Even after he had explained that he wasn't allowed to do magic outside of school until after graduation, she didn't seem to understand why he didn't have it on him at all times. Harry blamed the twins for Molly's paranoia about teens with wands.

"So, what have you faced so far?" Bill asked as he looked around the hall as they walked forward. His voice may have sounded nonchalant, but in reality he was getting his mind ready for the next test that was going to appear in this place.

"Well, Xevera had me solve a riddle in the first room, and then in the second I had to keep dodging a flame thrower type of thing until I pressed a button type thing along the wall to stop them. Those things were vicious, it was trying to kill me, I'm sure of it. If it wasn't for my seeker instincts, I don't think I would have been able to dodge as much as I had." Harry said with a surprisingly humorous laugh as he shook his head.

Bill nodded at him before ruffling his hair. "Nice, good job, well I am here to help get you through this from now on. I am pretty sure that more than one thing will kill me if you get hurt down here, and I am not going to be explaining this to my mother, just letting you know."

"No! You're going to leave me to face her on my own? I hadn't thought that I was that crazy! And she is your mother, not mine!" Harry said in absolute horror. He still had not gotten used to the Weasely matriarch fawning over him whenever he came. Part of that was from the fact that he had never had a mother figure in his life before. Aunt Petunia never counted as one seeing as they did not share feelings like that with each other.

"Where are you parents, speaking of mothers, I highly doubt that they would be glad you stumbled upon this place?" The sphinx asked as she glared slightly at the two of them with no real heat. It had been bugging her that one as young as her new cub had not been with his parents while finding her and the marble.

Harry sobered almost immediately before he answered "Um, they died when I was very young. I don't even remember them."

Xevera bowed her head when she heard that, and her furry ears drooped back as well. She had only passing glimpses of her own parents and knew how that could affect someone. Even if he was a human and she was not.

"Well, how about another riddle for you?" She changed the subject to try and distract the young boy from any thoughts that would be hard for him. She noticed that the older boy had not commented earlier, and so she knew that he had known something, but not a great lot about it. Bill was looking at the sphinx in surprise as she seemed to be trying to lift the boy's spirit. Never before had he ever heard of a sphinx having a soft spot for a human. It was mindboggling.

"Sure," was the answer Harry gave.

"A hundred arms, a thousand fingers,

But has not eyes to see where it lingers."

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 **A/N: And there you have it. Another chapter done. Please let me know what you think of the riddles, I did have a fun time going through them. I believe that they were probably the reason that I started this fanfic in the first place... So, moving on, there are two unanswered riddles, I am looking for two answers when you review. Thank you all for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3: The Gift

**A/N: Here we go with the next chapter. Now I'm going to answer some of the reviews. Starting with the riddles. The first answer was an egg and the second was a tree.**

 **Thank you for participating and answering correctly, or halfway correctly, or even took a guess; EvangelineRose2412, 97NerdyRoses (Yes, I have heard of that riddle, but so far there isn't a place for it), bakazuki26, katherine cullen16, and koepchen.**

 **Thank you to everyone else for reviewing, and to amberpup, thank you for the constructive criticism, I will admit that I do not have nearly the detail that I want in it either, but I can start to do that. Thank you for your honest opinions about the story so far. I am a bit lazy to go through and change things that are already up, but after this chapter I will try to do some more. I know that I gloss over some things where detail would have been appreciated. It's a bad habit that I get into when I'm trying to move on to the next part of the story. Also, I have never been much of a slash fan either, until I found that the strange pairings are usually forced to be written better, and then I started to like said parings.  
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 **Moving on, I own nothing, and I hope that you all like this next chapter!  
**

 **Look down below for the riddle for next chapter!**

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Chapter 3: The Gift

Three rooms later, a murderous alligator, and many twisting hallways, found the strange group of three outside a heavy door that put the doors of the great hall in Hogwarts to shame. It seemed to be cast from pure bronze, if that was possible. The lock was a pair of intersecting golden snakes that seemed to tie together and wrap around the stone pillars as if to anchor themselves to the wall and door.

Harry was so glad that Bill was there and that he had been given his wand to use. Not only had the curse breaker gotten them through the rooms that seemed to have been getting harder and harder to get through, but he also started to explain to Harry all of the enchantments and ruins that had gone into making this place work how it did. Harry supposed that they both would have wanted to read the walls, but they had all decided that it would have been better to get through to the outside first and then figure out what everything said later. No matter how interesting everything around them was, they both knew that they had to get out of there as quickly as they could.

"This is the room that the little one must go into alone. You cannot help him inside of there. And neither can I." The sphinx told the curse breaker as they came to a stop.

"Why would I not be allowed to help him in there?" He asked as he watched Harry approach the doors with uncertainty clouding the bright green eyes.

"That room only opens for those whom speak the noble tongue. He is the only speaker here, and only one may enter this room at a time. We would not make it past the barrier much less the guards. But he will. All there is for us to do is wait and hope that he can get through on his own. When he comes out, he will know how to get out of this place. But what is in there is something for him and him alone. Once he has collected it, the marble will open for all to enter with his say." Xevera said as she nudged Harry towards the door gently.

When Harry approached, the two metal snake heads reared and looked at Harry with red jeweled eyes. The metal was gold, detailed with scales that rippled as they moved. The heads flared to show hoods that only cobra's possessed as they hissed out threats at the three beings. They ordered for the speaker to come and give them orders.

" _Move aside, open the door._ " Harry hissed at the two snakes with confidence he didn't know he possessed.

Bill shivered at hearing the snake language coming out of the small boy's mouth. He had never thought that it would sound like that at all. He figured that it would have sounded like any snake, but there was something when he said it that seemed to ripple the ambient magic around them. But he didn't think that it sounded evil. More likely it was like all magic; it was the intent that decided if it was light or dark. Perhaps it was simply grey. Bill didn't know, but he was curious to see if he could learn more.

The golden snakes paused to study Harry before they nodded and started to slither against one another, letting the rubbing metal screech and scrape for added affect, until they had untangled and they were both poised in an attacking stance at either side of the entrance of the room when the door came open. It was clear that while Harry was allowed to enter, Bill and Xevera were going to have to stay right where they were.

With one last look at the eldest Weasely brother and the sphinx that had been helping him, Harry took his first few uncertain steps into the room. Trying his hardest not to panic as the door closed behind him and Bill called out to him that he would be fine.

He walked into the room on the path that led to a circular platform on which another circular dais stood. The rest of floor that was not the path or the platform was sunk into the ground and had hundreds of black snakes writhing within it. They were all speaking at once, forcing Harry to tune them out as he walked forward. The shouting of the snakes was not helping with his nerves in the slightest. It was only the fact that he knew the two others were right on the other side of the door that kept him from panicking.

As he walked up to the dais, he looked to the center of it where he saw a small coiled jade and gold snake with onyx eyes that could be seated within the palm of his hand with ease. It was so detailed that Harry wouldn't have been surprised if it was alive.

Around the snake was more writing, and once again Harry had the urge to read it aloud in the snake language. " _Well done, speaker of the noble tongue, to have found this chamber. The snake before you holds secrets only passable to those with the language. Simply stoke the head, and my gift to you will be knowledge that can only help. And if the language is borrowed in any way, this will solidify your claim of it."_

As he read, the words shimmered silver and disappeared. They were only to be read once, and then a decoy would be placed to satisfy who ever came into the chamber after the speaker. Knowing it was his only way home, Harry gently stroked the head of the snake, and started as it moved and slithered up his outstretched arm to circle around his upper arm. The boy watched in slight fear and awe as the snake then glowed gold and sunk into his skin, the only evidence that it was there two bands of runes around his arm that appeared on his skin.

Then there was a sudden influx of information that bombarded his head, and Harry dropped down to his knees while holding his head and called out. It had hurt to just gain that information, though it was not all processed just yet. The door had opened already, and Harry looked up just in time to see an idol of Ra take the place where the snake had been before.

"Harry, are you alright? Can you hear me?" Bill asked as he rushed forwards and steadied the boy as he also looked him over. Xevera was right on his tail; however she was not as worried as he was. Mainly because she knew what had been inside of that chamber. That did not stop her from making sure that Harry was alright though.

Shaking his head to clear it, Harry said "Yeah, headache, I'll be fine."

"Alright little one, but I will be going with you, I could hardly leave you now. You know how to leave; you must say the words, little one." Xevera said as she nuzzled the small boy as a cat might do to her kitten.

Bill scooped him up when it was clear that Harry would not be walking anywhere anytime soon. He was worried about the teenager, it seemed as if he had been in pain when they came in, but now he was on the verge of falling asleep. The man figured that Harry probably had been running on adrenaline, and was now crashing.

"Come on Harry; tell us what we need to do to get out of here." Bill said softly as he stood.

" _The treasure claimed, the tests passed, give entrance to any who wish it, and set us free._ " Harry spoke in parseltongue. It wasn't that difficult seeing as they were surrounded by snakes and the knowledge that had been passed into him was mostly in the snake language, making it harder to speak in English than in the noble tongue at the moment. Though, the rhythmic hissing did startle Bill once again.

A soft glow came around the three beings, and just in time to blink they were in the normal world again. They made quite the picture too. Bill was holding a half asleep Harry while Xevera was wrapped around them both protectively, her wings outstretched and tail twitching. Most of the curse breakers seemed surprised that it hadn't taken long at all for them to get through the Reality Marble.

"Alright, we need a full check out of both of you, and we need to figure out what to do with the sphinx." John started to order the other people to do different jobs as he said that. Bill had placed Harry down and had started to report what had happened to a superior. It was just the way that things were run with his job.

"I will not leave the little one, and you cannot make me." Xevera snarled as she curled herself around Harry, her mane standing on end and her wings seeming to hide the small boy from view of prying eyes.

The curse breakers looked at her in bewilderment. "You cannot stay with him though. It goes against some of our laws." John tried to explain to the sphinx.

"Yours, perhaps, but not mine. If you answer two riddles correctly, I will leave. If not, I will stay with the little one as per sphinx's law." She challenged with a curl of her lip to show just how displeased she was with them, as well as flash her fangs. He was her cub, and they would not keep him away from her. When the curse breaker nodded she smiled and gave the first riddle.

"Thousands layup gold within this house,

But no man made it.

Spears past counting guard this house,

But no man wards it."

The cure breakers had wide eyes as they thought on what the sphinx had said. It was not a riddle any of them had heard before. Bill was almost wishing that they didn't get the riddles right. For one thing he had seen how protective of Harry Xevera was. She would protect him. And he wanted Harry to be safe, especially after all that had happened with his sister at school. A sphinx could certainly only help him in times of need. And he seemed to be a magnet for trouble.

It was a good five or ten minutes later when John answered the riddle. "A Beehive," He answered, and Xevera grudgingly admitted that he had guessed correctly.

"One you have answered, but one more I still have. Guess this one right and I will be gone. Fail, and there is nothing you can do to force me away from Harry." Xevera warned as she prepared the next riddle.

"I sleep by night,

I wake by day.

At dawn I rise,

At dusk I lay.

I ache when hungry,

Shiver when cold.

I was born when young,

And I will die when old.

Who am I?"

Surprisingly this one had the man answering almost immediately. "Human," He said with conviction and more than a little smugness.

"Wrong. As per my law I will stay with Harry. The little one is the only one who has a say over me. I would eat you, but that would upset him greatly. Be thankful he has such morals, because I do not." Xevera gloated as she smirked at all those around her. She got to stay with her little one, and there was nothing they could do to stop it.

"I'll go and get the paperwork for them sorted," Bill sighed as he shook his head and started to leave. He had to admit that he found it amusing that his boss was outsmarted by a sphinx.

"Hold on," John almost yelled as he stopped the redhead and looked at the sphinx incredulously. "How was that wrong? I'm sure that was the right answer."

"As a sphinx I have no obligation to tell you why you were wrong. It is only the fact that you were that matters." Xevera said with a smirk.

"I think that is just saying that you were lying. How am I to know that you did not lie to me when you won't say where I was wrong?" The elder curse breaker challenged. He too smirking as he saw the sphinx's hair stand on end as if she was threatened.

She growled at him before saying "I will not make a habit of this, but since you so brazenly said that and I have resolved not to eat you, I shall explain just how shallow minded you are. You think that man is the only thing that hungers and shivers, sleeps and wakes, lives a life. You are wrong. The question was 'Who am I?' and the answer I was looking for was the name of the person telling the riddle. I was simply describing myself you insolent human. Your narrow mindedness astounds me and makes me wonder how you survived as long as you have under these circumstances. Be thankful it was me you challenged and not anther of my kin. You would not be living if it were not so."

Properly chastised, the man stepped aside and allowed Bill to lead Harry and the sphinx out so that he could file paperwork and make sure that the almost thirteen year old was alright. It had been an extremely long day for the both of them.

 **A/N: Yay, I have a new chapter up! I hope that you all liked that. For the riddles, I decided to have at east one, maybe two for you all to try and answer.**

"I make you weak at the worst of times.

I keep you safe, I keep you fine.

I make your hands sweat, and your heart grow cold.

I visit the weak, but seldom the bold."

 **Okay, so there is the first. I quite like that one. No hints.**

 **This next one is a bit closer to my heart. I made it up on my own and am very proud of it. I just needed one for the situation.**

"She screams and yells the noble's death,

On the great carriage she rides the wind's breath

Only heard by those about to die,

Before the Doomsman comes on by."

 **Thank you for reading, and please go a head and review and fav and follow. Thanks!**


	4. Chapter 4: Welcome Back

**A/N: I am so sorry that this took so long. From the reviews I had to change a few things, then I found that I didn't like the changes so I redid it, and then I just made some corrections to this chapter. (insert exasperated sigh) But I had done it!**

 **I would go back and read all of the reviews over again to see who got my riddles right, but I am lazy today and am just happy that I polished this chapter enough. For those who guest Fear and Banshee you were correct. And if you wanted to call the Banshee a bean nighe that is fine too. Did you know that the banshee is said to comb its hair with a silver comb and that if you find one on the ground in Ireland you should never pick it up because the Banshee uses it to trap mindless men and spirit them away into the after life. And that is my Halloween tidbit for the day!  
**

 **Thank you everyone who reviewed, followed, and/or favorited this story. It means a lot to me.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

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Chapter 4: Welcome Back

The train ride back to Hogwarts was fairly interesting. Harry was sitting in a compartment with a new teacher who was sleeping, Xevera, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville. It was packed and awkward to say the least, and although Ron and Ginny were used to the sphinx how, Hermione and Neville had been terrified of her at first, which was slightly funny in all honesty.

For the two days after they had gotten out of the pyramid, Harry had to deal with Mrs. Weasely and Xevera having a fit over who got to mother him the most. It would have been comical if both females weren't as scary as they were. If anything all of the Weasely children and Harry had learned that mother lions were really scary and to not get in the way of them when they were dealing with a cub in a crisis.

It had taken a week. A single week to know that the Sphinx was mental and that Mrs. Weasely was also out of her mind. If asked a few days ago, the boy would have said that they were both level headed and family oriented. Now he thought that they were both demons. It all started when Harry was taken out of the pyramid and Xevera first met the Weasely matriarch.

Harry would swear that sparks went flying as the two of the locked eyes. Xevera had a really mean glare on her, but Molly Weasely was more stubborn than anyone really had the right to be. Her glare could melt steel if she looked at it for long enough. But Xevera had years of experience in patients to guide her. She was not going to lose to this human woman.

Without anyone really understanding what was going on, Xevera and Molly had formally challenged each other as rivals. And what were they being rivals about? Well, they were being stubborn over who could provide the best mother figure to Harry. And no, he did not have a choice in the matter.

It had started the minute that the two females had set foot in the hotel room, and was still going. The twins were placing bets on who would win and if there would be a truce. Molly would make dinner, Xevera would go on and tuck him into bed.

In the end they had called a kind of truce and had both mothered Harry senseless until he ran behind Bill for protection, causing him, Charley, and the twins to laugh. But at the same time the four redheads had gotten him out of the situation and had given him a reprieve. Xevera would still spout a riddle every once in a while to keep Harry thinking, and they learned that Ron was absolute rubbish at all things riddle related, and yet he was the king at chess. It almost wasn't fair.

After the two days had gone, Bill had started to speak with Harry and told him about the possibilities that he could have with his ability to read parselscript in the curse breaking business. He had even gotten Harry a job of sorts as a translator. They had run a contract up with a goblin, (that was one of the scariest things that Harry had ever gone through, and that was saying a lot seeing as he had killed a basilisk) and Bill was going to be sending Harry things to translate to English from dig sites to the school, and then Harry was going to send it back. It was all going to be sent back and forth through a box that Gringotts provided that was two way.

Bill would put something in, say a word or two, and it would go to Harry. When Harry was done, he would send it back by doing the same thing. And for every time that Harry translated something, the bank would be putting money in a new vault that they set aside for Harry that would be accessible but separate from his trust fund or the main Potter family vault that he could only get into after he turned seventeen.

Along with that, Harry was able to get a job for the next few summers with Bill as the older boy's assistant slash apprentice. For some of the sites that they knew there were more chambers that had yet to be discovered because of the snake language barriers. Harry would be able to help Bill's team uncover secrets that had been lost for the longest of times. It sounded like a lot of fun.

But for the time being, Harry was squished in the compartment with his friends and a teacher going back to his home. Hogwarts. The castle really did feel like home to the thirteen year old, more so than any place had before.

The five teens and the sphinx were all having fun and laughing, getting ready for the year, when the train started to slow to a stop.

"We can't be there yet, it hasn't been long enough." Hermione said as the train came to a stop. There were mutterings from the other compartments of the train before a chill seemed to sweep through the air.

The door opened, and Harry would have looked out if it wasn't for Xevera keeping him in his seat and Ron getting up and looking himself. It was a good thing seeing as the train gave a sudden jolt and Ron was knocked onto his butt. A moment later as the lights went out. Then it started to get colder, until it felt like the happiness was being sucked from the very air.

They all watched as a hand came out and opened the door to their compartment. The last thing that Harry remembered through his panic before everything went dark was a dark hooded figure coming into the compartment and a screaming woman.

As Harry went down, Xevera was pissed. She launched herself at the thing in the doorway and bit into the cloak. Of course as she did that the sleeping professor woke up and sent a white misting figure of some sort after it and drove the thing away. The sphinx, meanwhile, was spitting out cloak and choking as she did so.

"Pew, pew, that is nasty, evil dead things with no soul, pew, never trying to bite one of them again." She muttered as she wiped her tongue on her paw to get rid of the taste. The teacher left to go speak with the driver after handing out copious amounts of chocolate. Harry came to not too long after that.

"What was that thing?" He asked, and someone gave the correct answer. Xevera, however, had a different thought about what they were.

"I make you weak at the worst of times.

I keep you safe, I keep you fine.

I make your hands sweat, and your heart grow cold.

I visit the weak, but seldom the bold."

The riddle hung ominously in the air for a moment after she spoke, and it was Harry that said "I don't think that those things were fear. For one thing, it looked pretty solid to me." Harry had known what she was talking about just as he knew what Hedwig was always trying to tell him. They had created a bond between them that let him understand the answers to her riddles.

"Well, she isn't that far off. I read about dementors somewhere, and they feed off of your good memories, forcing the person to relive only the bad ones, until all that is left are the bad. If that isn't the embodiment of fear, I wouldn't know what was." Hermione said in her lecturing voice. This time it was appreciated because Harry really did want to know just what those things had done to him, and who was screaming.

Never before had Harry felt so helpless before. It had been just as Ron said; like he would have never been happy again.

It was pouring when they reached Hogwarts, and even then Harry could see the skeletal horses that were leading the carriages that everyone else said were leading themselves. Harry would have said something, but Xevera knew what he was seeing and offered a riddle instead to tell him what it was and to make sure that no one else thought he was any different.

"I am invisible to most,

If you can see I offer you my condolences,

For only those who have seen death,

May look upon my darkened hide,

See my skeletal wings,

And look into my milky eyes."

A thestral; that was what came through the bond that Harry had with the sphinx. It was the winged horse that could only be seen by those who have seen death. Harry knew that he had seen enough of that to last a lifetime. Harry had seen Quirrle die right in front of him first year. It was only logical that he could see the thestral.

Once inside the great hall we were welcomed back by Flitwick's toad choir before the new ones of the year were sorted. It was so adorable to watch the little ones going through the process of being sorted into the houses. Harry could still remember how it had been for him.

Xevera made a point to laugh about the little ones who didn't seem to know what to do about her. The staff had been made aware of the sphinx, and the fact that she would go nowhere but with Harry; the cub of her heart. So they had grudgingly agreed that she would be there whether they wanted her to be or not. Snape had been the one to make the most grumbling out it. But then he was going to approach the sphinx at some point to ask for a few hairs. It was a most potent potion ingredient after all, and hard to get as well.

Professor Dumbledore stood for his speech and introduced Professor R. J. Lupin as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. It explained how he knew about the dementors and to give out chocolate afterwards.

Then Malfoy had to be a prat "Pst, Potter, is it true that you fainted? You actually fainted?" He asked mockingly.

"Shut up Malfoy," Ron shot back.

But it was Xevera that took offence to the blonde ferret. "Little blue eyed one, have you faced anything more dangerous than the peck of a bird? I should rend you limb from limb for thinking that Harry is weak for the worst memory that those foul creatures dredged up only did that. Were he a lesser human he might have been rendered insane."

The people in the general vicinity were wide eyed at that, but chose not to say anything as Dumbledore was introducing Hagrid as the new Care of Magical Creatures teacher and gave words of warning about the dementors who were there because of the ministry. It was made clear that the dark beings would be there for the year because of the convict Sirius Black.

Xevera thought that it was silly for them to make that much of a fuss over one man. It was as if there had never been a breakout before. And if there hadn't been, then the human wizards might have become complacent. It is unwise to rely on beings that were like dementors. It would only lead to their doom. Silly humans.

The meeting with the painting that guarded the Gryffindor tower was rather eventful. The Fat Lady had decided that she could break a glass with just the sound of her voice and was intent on proving it. While doing that she ignored all the people telling her the password to get through. It was rather annoying.

The sphinx was once again not impressed.

"She screams and yells the noble's death,

On the great carriage she rides the wind's breath

Only heard by those about to die,

Before the Doomsman comes on by."

Harry had to hide his laughter by choking at that, and when the others looked at him he said "Sorry about that, Xevera just called the Fat Lady a banshee." With that the others laughed and went on up. Xevera, being female was not allowed to sleep in the dorms that Harry and the other third year boys were in, so she was to stay in the common room and act as another level of security to make sure that pesky children did not try to sneak out after curfew.

Of course, boys being boys, they had to get reacquainted with each other the first night. Seamus broke out the animal chocolates, and they were literally messing around. The Irish half blood was making monkey noises, the Longbottom heir made the noises of an elephant, Ron let out his lion's roar, and Harry had steam coming from his ears as if he was a train.

That night they slipped into an exhausted slumber after a nice pillow fight that the house elves would be picking up after. Not that they minded, in fact, the mess made them extremely happy for some reason.

But before Harry went to bed, he closed his curtains and opened the box that had been given to him from Bill. Already there was a note and a pile of papers waiting for him to look through and translate. Feeling very awake, Harry took them out and started to work. He felt fascinated as he did from what it was saying and what it was doing.

The note simply said:

 _Dear Harry,_

 _The goblins found it prudent to get you working as quickly as possible. Time is money according to them after all. I hope that this note finds you well and that you have a great start of the year. Here are a few of the transcripts from the pyramid, more specifically the room that had the reality marble inside of it. Take your time to go through them and make the translations, there is no hurry._

 _Best wishes,_

 _Bill_

Harry found himself smiling at the short note. He remembered that Bill had been the most vocal in making sure that he was not overworked as he translated. Though, the goblins had been more than grateful that Bill was in charge of Harry and not one of them. They had little patience for children.

Thinking about that, Harry couldn't help but think how his ability had changed from the adventure that he had gotten into that summer. From the knowledge that the jade and gold snake had given him, he could recognize when it was parseltongue or script, and when it was English. He knew when he was speaking what now; he could even chose to write in the serpent language. That was really quite helpful. Plus, from the knowledge, he recognized the serpentine version of ancient runes. There were arrays photographed onto the papers he was given, and it amazed Harry that they didn't notice what the heck it was that they were sending.

Taking out a piece of paper, Harry began to write out the runes that were there looking like squiggles and writing out what they were saying. The main thing that he wrote in the understanding was that there were tiny minute differences in the script that made it what it was. But even with the knowledge of the language, it was impossible to learn. But, if it was possible, someone would have already done it. So that made him put the arrays to paper with vague meanings where the runes were before giving a synopsis on what exactly the rune did and the consequences of them.

As it turned out, some of the writing told a story. That was the most interesting part of the translations.

Apparently years and years and years ago a snake speaking man came to them and caught the eye of the Pharaoh's daughter. He impregnated her before leaving and the baby born was a little boy who could speak with snakes. Since then the royal family always spoke the noble tongue and they created rooms and stories that only one of them could read.

However, a mystic priest that wanted to speak the language kidnapped a young daughter of the family and found a way to barrow the language for a time. He broke into the palace in the night and slaughtered the family so that a new one could come to power. At the time he didn't know that the language was barrowed, and so it left him a few weeks after. The daughter of the house had survived and married into the family, and they ended up killing the mystic who thought to steal the language before creating the tomb for the family.

There was also a section telling that incase another came with the barrowed version, the young girl created the snake to let them have the language for good. It also took the knowledge of the parselrunes so that the power they found in them could be used if they were ever forgotten.

Harry fell asleep not long after he red that and only was able to write down a quarter of the history that had been given in the box.

His dreams were filled with snakes and gold, twisting into the story that he had learned. There was a brief wonder if all of his assignments would be this interesting.

 **A/N: And I hope you liked the extra riddle that I added. Another one that I am proud of making up. I know that he doesn't see Thestrals in the third book, he doesn't see them until the fifth, but he saw Quirrel die. So I made it so that he could see him. HE also saw his mother die, but the magic surrounding the creatures might make it so that he could only see them if he knows that he saw death and not when he wouldn't know what it was as a baby. But that is getting too complicated.**

 **On to other things!**

 **The riddle I have for you this time is:**

 **"Twist the sands and let them fall,**

 **You will see time unfold.**

 **Into the past, never the future,**

 **I'll see you soon, when time lingers."**

 **Thank you all for reading this far! Please let me know what you think. And yes, I made this riddle up, but those who know the books should figure out what it is insinuating!**

 **Oh, and just for fun, I don't know if I will add this one, I thought of maybe calling Remus this at one point, but I don't think I could be that mean, here is a riddle I am contemplating using:**

 **"The commonest of soldiers found where rival armies meet;**  
 **He'll lead the charge or hold the line, and never will retreat."**

 **Until next time!**


	5. Chapter 5: School in Session

**A/N: Sorry I took so long. Here is the next chapter, I know that it is a little bit shorter than I had wanted it to be, but I came to a stopping point and had no clue if I should go on or make it into a new chapter. So I stopped it before I could get too complicated.**

 **Yay, people got the riddle right! Yes, the riddle for next chapter was a time turner. No one guessed on the second one. I felt kind of bad about using it because I was essentially calling Lupin a Pawn... Oh well.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own anything!**

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Chapter 5: School in Session

As the sun crested above the forest the next morning a little chirping blue bird came zipping across the grounds. Unfortunately, for it, the little bird was not used to Hogwarts and so it flew into the Whomping Willow. Sad to say, the little blue bird was never heard from again. However, the sphinx that had been cursing the happy bird for waking it up so early in the morning was happy to hear that it was gone.

That morning Harry grabbed his time table and was happy to see that his first class was Ancient Runes. Sadly it was only review from what he learned from Bill during the summer and what he had learned about the parselrunes. In all honesty he knew that it would be the case, but he was interested to see just how diverse runes could be as well as see how the runes differed from the parsel ones that he now had swimming in his head when he needed them.

Of course, some of the students were a little nervous around Harry seeing as Xevera was right there with him. But she had been spouting riddles so much that most had already gotten used to it. Not to mention that they were in the class with Ravenclaw, so they were more curious than anything. Apparently they were also excited because the riddles reminded them of the way to get into their common rooms. Padma, Pavati's twin who was in Ravenclaw, also seemed to take the opportunity to sit on his right so that she could continue to talk with Xevera when the teacher gave them a break or something. That meant that he was between her and Hermione.

Harry was glad for Hermione; the girl was a familiar face in the crowd of Ravens that descended on the class. Though, it was also confusing seeing as they didn't know the others that were in the class that well. But a few words here and there and Harry now had a few friends from his year in Ravenclaw. It was nice.

When the teacher came in, one Professor Bathsheda Babbling, walked in and started class. Just looking at her and how she began to present the class told Harry all he needed to know about her. She came across as passionate and dedicated to teaching them of the runes she had on the board. She even jumped right into the syllabus.

Of course, before even that she went on about the different types of runes in exsistance and what she wanted to teach all of us before we graduate completely. She spoke of Viking Runes along with the Egyptian counterparts, and then what people called the High Elf Runes along with some of the more oriental runic symbols. It was fascinating. The high elves were not around anymore, but their runes were apparently still used to this day. It was also said that most pureblood families had some high elf in them from generations back. Also, they were told that the Viking Runes were used across the globe it seemed to be the most used and the basis for all of the other runes. The rumor of their first appearance was that the Norse gods come down from the heavens and introduced them to the Nordic people.

The runes that they were going to be starting with were much simpler, and it was told with the meanings as well as the significant numbers. There was a reason that Ancient Runes was also paired with Arithmacy. The first Runes they were going to learn, besides the Viking Runes, were the magical number Runes. It started with the Demiguise at the number 0 and ended at the Hydra that symbolized number 9. Of course during the over view of those ten Harry was interested to know that 7 was a magically powerful number and that the significance of the symbol was unknown or hadn't been discovered yet. Apparently there were people who lived their whole lives trying to discover what the significance was.

For the Viking Runes they were started with the history of the runes and their meanings. Then after the half way point of each set of runes they were going to learn their uses in enchanting objects and using them in arrays along with the numbered runes to create barriers without looking too far in depth at the arrays beyond the basic structure. This year was all theory work, there was going to be no practical until about sixth or seventh year depending on how well they did.

Even with all of that, Harry found himself absolutely fascinated and had already decided that he was doing to be reading up on his own and perhaps experimenting. After all, he already knew the uses of the parselrunes and could see how they worked from an already made array from the jade and gold snake, but he didn't really know the first thing about making his own array. There is a difference between knowing how they work together and making them do something that you wanted, and Harry was learning that difference. With that said, the knowledge gained from the jeweled snake seemed to be helping with his understanding of the other types of runes.

As it turns out you know the sequence and meanings to one set, and the others fall in place seeing as they all had runes with similar meanings. But it was still like having all the words to a new language and figuring out how to conjugate each one the right way.

They were given reading and they had to write a paper on why Mannaz, the Self rune, was so important in rune casting for home work.

Hermione disappeared for a while after that, and then reappeared with Ron as they started to walk down to Care of Magical Creatures. The most interesting thing was that she was speaking about Divination while praising how Ancient Runes was the better class.

"Hold on," Ron started, "Ancient Runes is at the same time as Divination." He announced in confusion.

"Don't be silly Ron, how can someone be in two places at once?" Hermione answered dismissively. But Harry, who had been listening, knew that she really had been in both classes, and so it was possible.

"Twist the sands and let them fall,

You will see time unfold.

Into the past, never the future,

I'll see you soon, when time lingers."

Xevera gave the riddle, and Harry knew that she was talking about going back in time and a time turner, but he had never heard about them before. Looking at how pale Hermione got by just that riddle, Harry decided that he was just going to ask her in privet if it came up.

"I hope that Hagrid does well for our first class." He said to change the topic into something better.

As the trio walked forward towards Hagrid's Hut, they found themselves in a penned off area with a creature standing there with the head and front of a giant eagle and the back half of a horse. It was beautiful. It was also one of the most interesting creatures that Harry had the fortune of seeing. Not that he would say so out loud. No need to make Xevera jealous over something like that.

As they congregated around the pen, Hagrid had to teach the class how to open the Monster Book of Monsters. As it turns out the book that wanted nothing more than to eat you could be opened fairly easily if you just stroked the spine of it. It reminded Harry of how Fluffy went right to sleep after just a few seconds of music playing. Malfoy seemed to want to start something, but the sphinx took one look at him, growled, and the ponce went way trying to scrap up his dignity and act as if the sphinx didn't scare him.

It was when the half giant asked for volunteers that Harry got involved in the class in a way that he really hadn't wanted to. Everyone had backed up and that left him looking as if he had stepped forward. He would have protested, but Ron decided to be the best friend that a guy could ask for and pushed him forward.

"Don't worry little one; if that hippogriff tries anything I will eat him in retaliation." Xevera called out so that only Harry and the few students that were closest to him could hear her.

Instead of replying with a semi-hysterical laugh, Harry walked forward and bowed as Hagrid had told him. To his utter surprise the giant creature bowed back, and so Harry slowly made his way forward with an outstretched hand. The hippogriff took the last few steps and Harry started to pet the creature on the beak with a relieved sigh and laugh coming from him. That turned into an indignant squawk, not graceful at all, when Hagrid decided that Harry was going to ride Buckbeak without even asking him and placed him on the back of the horse like creature.

But everything left his mind when they were flying. Harry knew that flying was amazing, and this was not as good as flying on a broom, but it was still amazing. The stress from the past couple of days had completely vanished as he whooped and cheered when the hippogriff swooped and skimmed the black lake.

Coming back down all that he could thing was how brilliant it had been. Even when Hagrid asked how it was doing. Of course, Malfoy had to be an arse and started to stalk towards the creature, completely disregarding everything that Hagrid had told them.

Right as Buckbeak reared, Xevera moved before anyone could blink and had tackled the blonde away from the creature. Everyone was stunned as she moved away from the blonde and snarled at him "Foolish child! You should listen to your elders. You were told of the dangers and the procedure, and you ignored them. Next time there might not be someone to save you!"

With her tail flicking in irritation, she sent the hippogriff a bob of her head as she skirted around him and towards her cub. The other creature gave the same informal nod back as it knew that while she wasn't about to come towards him, the little human had smelled strongly of her and so he must in some way belong to her as well.

That did not stop him from also approaching the youngling and butting his beak against the side of his head. Any human who liked the wind as much as one of his kin was allowed a glimmer of affection from him and the rest of the herd that were on the pen.

The class moved on as Hagrid once again explained safety before beginning his lecture on hippogriffs while allowing the remaining students to pet the creatures. Over all it was an amazing class and probably one of the best Care of Magical Creatures class that the school had hosted in a while. After all, the other teacher had been getting fairly old. The headmaster had mentioned something about the teacher wanting to maintain their remaining limbs. He would have never brought out creatures of this magnitude until they were older.

At the end of the day, Harry was glad that he got a slight reprieve. As it turned out he didn't have Arithmacy and Runes on the same day, that meant that he could stagger the work load between the two and still be able to have some free time on both days.

Of course he said nothing like that to Hermione; there was no use in bowing down and telling her that she was right about something, he would never hear the end of it.

That night he went to sleep completely at ease with his live thus far. There was no indication that the next day something was going to happen. In fact, there was no way that he could know that there was a letter on rout to him for breakfast or that there as someone who had broken out of Azkaban and was on the lookout for him.

In all of the confusion of gaining Xevera permeation to come with him, he was never warned about one Sirius Black.

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 **A/N: so, this isn't the best of chapters... but I think that it got into the swing of school fairly well. It also showed that Harry is having a different mind set to school than he had in the past. It was told to me that there is a bit of an emphasis on the fact that Harry got a job, but there is a reason for that. The job is going to be a place where he learns some things that he needs to learn as well as a place where things are going to be introduced. Harry will be growing up faster in this fic, and it is because of the thing he will be facing outside of school for the most part. I just have the school year because that is where most of the plot in the original story is, and if I want to make changes I have to change it there as well.**

 **Now, I don't really know when this one is going to be used, but here is the next riddle, another personal one as well!:**

 **I'm whispered through countless ears,**

 **Each time changing into something new,**

 **Based in truth through I may be,**

 **But closer to lie I surly become.**

 **What am I?**

 **Thank you all for Reviewing, Faving, and Following! It really does mean a lot for me. And I do take the reviews seriously.**

 **Until next time!**


	6. Chapter 6: Black's Shadow

**A/N: Hello my lovely readers. I believe that I owe you all an apology for taking so long to get this out and to all of you. But here the next chapter it! The plot thickens, and it really isn't that much of a divergence so far, but it will get better soon. Someone mentioned that this was kind of like a Harry gets a job type of thing, and while they are right there is so much more than that. Through the job things change, but remember a flap pf a butterfly's wings can make a tornado happen somewhere on the other side of the world. Well we have not gotten far enough for the tornado to appear, but it will slowly come about!**

 **Ah, my riddle was rumors! Thank you all who reviewed and answered that, as well as the follows and favorites that I got as well.**

 **I hope that you like this chapter, and remember, the only thing that I own is Xevera!**

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 **Chapter 6: Black's Shadow**

"He's been sighted, he's been sighted!" Seamus yelled as he ran over to the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall waving a newspaper around as he did. It was early in breakfast, meaning that the hall was only about half full.

Hermione had rushed over as Seamus said that and was looking at the newspaper as if the answers to life's questions were written in it. Harry had followed her over there, and was finding it hard to not show just how confused he was about what was going on. Before going to Egypt with Ron and his family, he had heard about the serial killer, Sirius Black that was on the loose, but that was from the muggle television and he wasn't sure how it related to the man in the photograph that was screaming at the camera in the newspaper.

"That's not far from here!" She gasped when she got to where the man had been sighted.

Mumbling in her ear so that only she could hear him, Harry asked "Who is Sirius Black?"

Hermione whipped around to see him with her eyes blown wide and her mouth slightly a jar. As with what usually happened when she was stressed or feeling some form of negative emotion, her hair was puffed up like her new cat that had been terrifying Ron's rat since they had gotten back. "You mean you don't know?" She hissed quietly as she shoved the paper back over to Seamus.

When Harry shook his head she looked around briefly before grabbing his arm ordering "Walk with me," as she began to pull him from the hall.

Ron, in all of this, was still eating as much as he could as Seamus and Dean began to talk about the paper and other things. As with the usual when it involved him eating, he hardly noticed that his two friends had left the hall, and he would notice until he looked up after saying a joke on quiditch before looking up to see Harry's expression to find that he wasn't there.

Meanwhile, Hermione had dragged Harry into an empty room with Xevera on their heels. She then began to pace back and forth, trying to figure out just how to tell her friend what it was that he didn't know and why it looked like his gossiping roommate had expected him to act out in some way to what he had shouted. It didn't help that she wasn't really up to date on all of the nitty gritty details of the case.

"I don't really know how to say this," she confessed, worrying her lip between her teeth.

"Hermione, just tell me, it can't be too bad." Harry said as he placed his hands on her shoulders to stop her from wearing a hole in the floor.

Taking a deep breath she said "Sirius Black was arrested and sent to Azkaban the day after your parents were murdered. It is said that he was the one who betrayed them to V-Voldemort. And, from what I read, he was one of your father's friends before he turned to the other side. It is also being said in the paper that he escaped to try and finish what he started. People think that he's going to try and k-kill you."

Xevera hissed as she heard what the man did. How dare some hairless ape cause her cub to be without his parents! She could feel fury in her very bones at the very thought of him being anywhere close to where her little one was. If it was up to her, that man would pay if she ever saw him.

Harry, on the other hand was oddly quiet. There was a resigned slump to his shoulders as he thought about all of this. He guessed that he really should have looked up just what happened that night that he lost his parents and defeated the dark lord. People seemed to expect him to know about it at any rate. What he did know from what he had been told was that he now had another person out to kill him, and this one had somehow broken out of the worst prison the wizarding world had to offer to do so. And here he was hoping for a normal year.

He supposed that he couldn't have everything. He was silent for the most part after that as they left and Ron caught up to them. He didn't even realize when Hermione slipped away from them as Ron filled the silence with chatter in a way that only Ron could do. At least he wasn't sending Harry looks like some of the others were.

This being his third year, Harry had gotten quite good at ignoring the looks. Before he knew of Black, he hadn't really seen the looks. But now as he looked at a few of the people whispering over the newspaper, he couldn't help but hate the looks that they were sending him. It was almost as if they were expecting him to die at any minute from some sort of sneak attack that the wanted criminal had set up inside of the school. Harry doubted that he could even get into the school without at least the Headmaster knowing that he was there.

He was finally forced from his thoughts where Hermione appeared at his elbow and answered the newest defense professor on what a boggart looked like. Well, it was a good a time as any to start listening to the man. So far Professor Lupin had seemed as if he knew quite a bit about what he taught. He seemed to be a young man with graying tawny hair and a kind disposition.

"Where did you come from?" Ron demanded as he looked at her in surprised.

"Honestly I've been here the whole time!" Hermione snapped at her red haired friend.

Xevera chuckled at the girl with a glint in her eye. It seemed as if she had decided that she was going to be teasing Hermione about something or another. Ever since care of magical creatures she had been spouting riddles of a time based nature around the bushy haired girl, and Harry couldn't think of the reason why. It didn't help that Hermione blushed and scowled at the sphinx each time she did so as well.

"One by one we fall from heaven down into the depths of past,

And our world is ever upturned so that yet some time we'll last."

This one was referring to the sands in an hourglass. Harry was about to asked what she was trying to tell him when Professor Lupin called up Neville for a demonstration, and so he quieted down to see what was going to happen.

He watched as Neville stood, shaking, in front of the boggart and watched as the professor unlocked the door. A pale, familiar hand reached out of the door before it was blown open to see Snape strut out and start for Neville. Then the next second the Gryffindor boy stuttered out a 'riddikulus' and everyone watched as the thing that looked like Snape was suddenly wearing the ugliest dress imaginable complete with a huge hand bag and a hat that featured a dead vulture.

The class burst into laughter at that. Even though no one wanted to see Snape in a dress ever again, and no one was going to tell it to the man either. Even the Slytherins were snickering softly. He might be their head of house, but if McGonagall or Flitwick had been in the same situation, you could bet that the Ravens and Lions would have been laughing as well.

They were placed into lines next, so that each would have a turn at the boggart. Everyone was laughing and having a good time. It was nice to air the fears in a way that everyone could make fun of together. It was as if they were conquering their fears and getting better because of it. He watched as a snake was changed into a Jack in the Box, and Ron changed his spider so that it was slipping and sliding on roller skates.

That was a bit of a surprise. Seeing how the wizarding world was so different from the muggle one Harry wasn't sure if they did have roller skates. But if Ron knew about them, then either his dad did something to one of them, or they really did have them here to.

Finally, it was Harry's turn. And as he stood in front of the boggart he began to think real hard about what he feared. At first it was Voldemort, but then he really thought about it. He wasn't afraid of the man. No, he was more afraid of that thing that was on train. The Dementor. It had made him feel more fear than he had in the entire time he had been down in the chamber with Tom Riddle or in the room with the mirror as he had been almost killed the first year he had come to Hogwarts.

The swirling creature finally picked up on his fear and turned into a dementor that went to swoop at Harry. But before Harry could do anything, Lupin had lunged in front of him and the thing had snapped into some sort of pearlescent ball that he turned into a balloon than zipped across the room and back into the wardrobe.

Harry didn't know whether to be thankful or to feel cheated that he didn't get to face the boggart. He didn't really appreciate the fact that Lupin had stepped in front of him as he had. But he shrugged it off as they all left to get to their next class. But still in the back of his head he thought on why the dementors scared him so much.

He didn't think much on it as he walked away.

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It was not long after that when the first Hogsmead visit was scheduled. Harry had asked McGonagall about that the permeation slip, telling her just what his relatives thought of him, but she wouldn't listen. It also wasn't like Xevera's signature would work. While she thought of Harry as hers, she was still considered a creature by law.

So he had said goodbye to his friends and had taken to exploring the castle. Xevera wasn't with him this time. She had decided that it was a nice day and she was going for a run in the woods. He still had Hedwig with him though. She was being nice and affectionate as he was on one of the outer bridges of the castle.

Actually, he was really there because Professor Lupin wanted to talk to him.

"You look so like your father," the man started with a nostalgic edge to his voice, "except for your…"

"I have my mother's eyes, yes." Harry interrupted, slightly tired of hearing everyone say the same thing. He was told that quite a bit. That seemed to open the flood gates as they started to talk. Until finally Harry tried to ask about the boggart.

"I would have thought it was obvious. One would think your greatest fear shown to the class would have been Lord Voldemort." He stated as if it was almost a fact.

"I did think of him at first, but then I remembered that dementor on the train." Harry admitted to the teacher.

"Yes, I believe I heard your sphinx describe it as Fear itself. A wise fear if you ask me." The man replied with an easy smile. The smile made his face seem younger than it had before, taking away some of the sadness that seemed to cloud it to the outside world.

They continued to talk until Ron and Hermione came back from Hogsmead. Then Harry said his goodbye and went over to his friends. Hermione apparently had tried to bore Ron to death with the history of the village as Ron had made sure to get Harry a bag of sweets from Huneydukes and a few pranking products from Zonkos Joke Shop.

Even if Harry was sad that he didn't get to go, he was glad for the presents. He made sure to thank both of them as they headed to dinner. Everyone that he knew was buzzing about Hogsmead, and Harry was still more than miffed that he couldn't go. The only good thing was that Xevera popped back up and sat next to him during dinner as she made a few comments about the stupidity of cats and rats. Harry wondered just what Scabbers and Crookshaks did to grate on her nerves to the point where she was complained, but knew not to question it.

After dinner was complete, the three were headed up to the common room when they were stopped by a large crowd that seemed to be almost all of Gryffindor standing outside on the stairs.

"What's going on?" Ron asked loudly, trying to drown out the others who were asking that same question.

Ginny was the one that came running up to them. "The Fat Lady, she's gone!" She answered. And sure enough as Percy pushed his way through ordering people about with his title of head boy that the three saw the tatters that were the portrait of the Fat Lady. It looked as if someone had taken claws or a knife to the painting, and the woman was nowhere in sight.

The headmaster pushed his way through the crowd along with Filch as they too looked at the damage. "Have all the portraits and ghosts on the lookout for her, we have to know what happened!" Dumbledore said as he looked around.

"We won't be needing to." Filch said as he pointed towards a painting that held a safari. Inside one could clearly see the pink dress that the woman wore as she was hiding behind a rhinoceros whimpering in fear.

"My dear lady, what happened here?" Dumbledore asked. All of the lions were listening in as well.

"He's here, in the castle, the one they all talk about!" She muttered with fear.

"Who is here?" the headmaster pushed, and Harry couldn't help but feel a shiver of dread creep up his spine.

"Sirius Black!"

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 **A/N: And that's a wrap! I hope that you all liked that and will review, favorite, and follow the story if you are so inclined! Next time, if I can, I will be making it so that there is some unexpected Slytherin interaction. Should be fun.**

 **And here is a riddle or two for you before I leave, let's see what you think it is!**

 **1) How far can a fox run into a grove?**

 **2) The cost of making only the maker knows,  
Valueless if bought, but sometimes traded.  
A poor man may give one as easily as a king.  
When one is broken pain and deceit are assured.  
What am I?**

 **Until next time!**


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